Ickle Ronniekins
by Solstice Muse
Summary: Ron is ten years old and Charlie is leaving to go to Romania and start his work with dragons. The bullying from Fred and George becomes too much and Ronnie decides to stow away with Charlie. Part of my Quills for a Cause sponsorship for AIDS research.
1. Ickle Ronniekins

_Title: Ickle Ronniekins (Part One)_

_Author: Solstice Muse_

_Beta: lj user mjki5cr4 (Tincat here on ff dot net)_

_Rating: PG_

_Pairing: Ron and Charlie sibling love fic_

_Warnings: Ten year old Ron and adult Charlie - if you don't like pre-Philospoher's Stone stories then this won't be for you._

_Disclaimers: Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling and her publishers. The author of this work receives no profit from it, nor do the creators/maintainers of lj comm hpqfac or lj comm quillsforacause. No copyright or trademark infringement is intended._

_Notes/Dedications: For my sponsor lj user maplemahogany who writes the very best Ickle Ronniekins in fandom and whose LJ anniversary is today and for another sponsor lj user jocap who is feeling poorly and needs cheering up with some cute little Ronnie antics! Also for Junior Quizzical, his mum lj user mrsquizzical will see why. Hugs to all!_

**Ickle Ronnie**

The twins were at it again. They were always at it. Was there nothing else they could do all summer apart from tormenting Ron?

If the constant teasing about his fear of spiders wasn't enough, Fred delighted in reading letters from his school friend Lee Jordan out loud ever since they'd started, describing his new pet tarantula in great detail; the twins were telling him horror stories about what it would be like for him when he started Hogwarts the following year.

That afternoon the twin terrors had broken into the rickety broom shed and tampered with one of Charlie's old practice bludgers so it honed in on Ron wherever he went in the yard. It had already hit him several times and Ron felt sure that his arm was broken but he didn't cry; things would only be worse for him if he cried, and he didn't tell his mum.

The twins bored of the game long before the bludger did and Ron had managed to scramble up a tree to hide from the flying ball. The hiding place was effective, he hadn't been found by the bludger since he climbed up there, but it also proved troublesome. Ron realised that there was no way he'd be able to climb back down with a broken arm and jumping would only lead to broken legs as he was quite high up.

It was like that time he got his head stuck in the banisters. It had been so easy to get his head in but when it came to pulling it out again he couldn't and started to panic. The twins had been in hysterics and Ron had almost burned to a cinder with embarrassment.

Somebody was bound to come looking for him soon. He was supposed to wash his hands and face for tea. It was a special tea. Charlie was leaving to start his apprentiship in Romania, working with dragons and all sorts of cool, brave people who didn't cry when they saw spiders or get chased by bludgers and stuck up trees.

Ron was going to miss Charlie.

Bill had grown up and left home ages ago; and he'd never really played with Ron so his leaving hadn't been upsetting at all, but Charlie was his mate. Charlie was his protector. Charlie was the one he could go to when there was a spider in his room and he wouldn't make him feel stupid or call him a cowardy custard.

Ron winced and held his aching arm to his chest as he heard the twins calling for him from the kitchen door.

"Ron!"

"Ickle Ronniekins!"

"Mumsie wants you all clean for din dins you special widdle baby boy you!" Fred spoke in his baby voice and George laughed and shoved him in the shoulder.

"When I said go and get your brother I didn't mean stand at the door bellowing!" Ron heard his mother snapping while a tea towel flicked at the back of Fred's head.

The twins jumped out of reach and set off through the yard and out further into the countryside surrounding the Burrow where Ron would go to play by himself when nobody wanted to play with him.

"Bet he comes back and tells on us," George said, loudly so Ron could hear him wherever he was.

"Sitting in the broom shed crying I bet," Fred yelled at an equally loud volume.

"Ginny's braver than him and she's just a girl!" George added.

"Cowardy cowardy custard," Fred began to sing now they were well out of earshot of their mother in her kitchen, "couldn't cut the mustard!"

"If I were him I wouldn't come back Fred."

"Disgrace to the name Weasley!" Fred declared.

The sniggered to themselves before looking around them for their red faced baby brother to come charging at them, fists flying, and yelling at them to stop being so mean. Their faces fell when he didn't show up. George frowned.

"Maybe he went to the pond to see how big the tadpoles have got?"

"Yeah," Fred nodded, "we'll have a look there and if we don't find him go and look under Ginny's bed, that's where he was when his Puffskein copped it, wasn't it?"

Ron closed his eyes and shuddered at the memory of his cute yellow friend with thick red blood oozing out of his head and its little foot twitching as it made sad crying noises. Charlie had taken the sobbing Ron inside and asked Ginny to give him a big cuddle to make him feel better before going back into the yard and shouting at Fred and George.

When the twins had found Ron snivelling under Ginny's bed they had told him Charlie had finished the creature off with a beater's bat to put it out of its misery. They'd tried to make a couple of jokes before George said he was sorry and crawled under the bed with Ron and gave him a cuddle.

Fred did nothing apart from never mention how he'd made Ron cry on that occasion.

Ron wiped his eyes and sniffed. The twins ran off towards the pond and he was left up the tree with his arm hurting more and more the longer he waited.

"S'okay, tyke," a warm familiar voice called through the branches from beneath him, "just drop down from your branch, I'll catch you."

Ron wiped his eyes again and peered down to see Charlie's twinkling eyes staring back at him.

"How d'you know I was up here?" Ron sniffed.

"I'm a tracker aren't I? I can track anything, trolls, dragons, banshees, brothers!"

Ron giggled.

"Why are you hiding then?"

"There's a bludger after me," Ron sighed wearily.

"Oh," Charlie snorted, "and here I was thinking you were protesting about me going tonight."

Ron giggled again.

"I don't mind you going as long as you take me with you," he grinned.

Charlie looked sad and shook his head.

"Oh little mate, I'd love to have you be my lucky mascot but it's way too dangerous over there for a shortarse like you."

"I'm gonna be big soon!" Ron protested. "Mum said, she said I'm going to grow into my feet any day now."

Charlie rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well, she still won't take up my trousers because she's sure I'm due one last growth spurt. We don't all get to be lanky like Bill, little nipper."

Ron looked disappointed at this news.

"But I'm going to be bigger than Fred and George, mum said."

Charlie shook his head and held out his arms again.

"Never mind that you, drop down and I'll catch you okay?"

Ron shook his head sadly.

Charlie looked offended.

"You think I'm going to drop you? When have I ever dropped by favourite little brother in all the world, tell me when?"

Ron smiled and looked away with a shrug.

"Never," he muttered.

"What was that?" Charlie cupped his hand to his ear.

"Never!" Ron shouted.

"That's right now one...two...three...drop!"

Ron scrunched up his face and tipped forward from the branch he was perched upon. He felt himself falling and then his fall broken by strong arms. He also felt the broken bone in his arm grind and he cried out in pain. Charlie swore and lowered him to the ground quickly.

"Shit, did I do that? Oh Godric Ronnie, I'm sorry!"

Ron's eyes were still tightly shut to hold in the tears and his bottom lip trembled.

"Bludger hit me."

"Oh, right," Charlie said before pulling his wand out of the special holder he had attached to his belt, "well, you're being a real man about this little'un, I'm well proud of you. Hold still and I'll stop it hurting."

Charlie tenderly extended Ron's arm, the little boy giving a stifled whimper as he did, and tapped it with his wand.

"_Sano plaga!_"

Ron bit his lip and heard the crack of his bone snapping back into place and mending magically. Charlie rubbed up and down the freckled arm and smiled.

"All better, little mate?"

Ron nodded.

"C'mon then," he got to his feet and pulled Ron up with him, holding the tiny hand and leading him back to the Burrow, "let's get you cleaned up for dinner."

"Ah!" Fred called out as he ran towards them, George puffing behind. "You found him. Where've ya been ya stupid little git?"

Fred cuffed Ron around the back of the head and Charlie gave the older twin a much heavier swipe back.

"Ow! What was that for?" Fred rubbed his head grumpily.

"You don't break your little brother's arm and then hit him and call him names, you spiteful little prat! I'll be watching you tonight and if I catch either of you acting up I'll let slip to mum how I found him!" Charlie warned.

Ron grinned and poked his little pink tongue out at the twins who flushed scarlet in the faces.

"Sorry Charlie," Fred muttered.

"Yeah, sorry Charlie, we didn't know it had really hurt him," George said with a bowed head.

"I should bloody hope so," Charlie gave them both a piercing look. "Well come on then, let's eat before mum starts crying."

* * *

Ron sat on the edge of Charlie's bed and watched him pack the last of his things. He was going to floo to the international Portkey terminal and then take a private Portkey to the camp in Romania. 

He was looking forward to it; it was all he'd ever wanted since Hagrid had first shown him the photographs of his favourite dragons during a break between lessons at Hogwarts.

He knew Ronnie was going to have a rough time of it at home without him there to protect him from the twins and save him from the spiders. The closer his departure time got the quieter Ron became. He smiled at the little kid as he swung his legs back and forth over the side of his bed and sat down beside him.

"Can't I come with you just until Fred and George go back to school?" Ron looked up at him with those huge blue eyes of his.

"I wish you could, little mate, but it's far too dangerous and you're still too young," Charlie ruffled Ron's hair and the little face pouted and sighed as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"It's 'cause I'm frightened of spiders isn't it?" he said sadly. "You're 'shamed of me."

"No way!" Charlie said as he pulled Ronnie onto his lap and gave him a big cuddle, "You climbed a tree with a broken arm and you didn't cry, you're a big boy now and I'm so proud of you."

"So lemme come for the weekend," Ron pleaded, grabbing handfuls of Charlie's jumper desperately.

"Look here titch, I'm gonna miss you too, I'll be in a place full of strangers who think I'm too young to go near the dragons and I'll have to prove myself and I won't be able to do that if you're there."

Ron wriggled off Charlie's lap and stomped across the room to the door with a huff.

"You just don't want me. You're just like the rest of them. I hate you all!"

The little tyrant slammed the bedroom door and ran for the crooked stairs up to his own room. Charlie ran his hand over his short hair and wished he could rely on Percy to look after the fragile little ego of their baby brother. Percy was a bigger target than Ron though; he'd be no help at all.

Charlie looked around his room, his childhood bedroom, and smiled sadly. When he came back it would only be as a visitor. This would stop being '_home_' and become '_mum and dad's_'. He looked around at all the stuff he hadn't packed, kiddie stuff, and smiled to himself.

He gathered some things from the windowsill and Apparated up to the attic room, making little Ronnie jump with fright.

"Leame 'lone!" Ron sniffed as he turned his face away, obviously ashamed of himself for crying.

"I won't."

"Gedout!" Ron snapped, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"Shan't!"

Ron gave a full body huff before pouting up at Charlie and trying to scowl at him before his face melted into a softer expression of hurt.

"I don't hate you."

Charlie crouched down before Ron and handed him his battered old wand from school.

"I want to give you this. I know you can't use it, but you can feel safe because you have it, and I trust you with something as important as my very first wand, Ron."

Ron held the wand with both hands as if it were made of glass and gaped at it in awe. Charlie put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a little clay disc with a tiny handprint embedded into it.

"This is to remind you that even I was smaller than you once and I don't want you to be in any hurry to grow up because you are such a cool little kid and I want to come back to a cool little kid at Christmas okay?"

Ronnie took the disc and bit his lip as he stared at the tiny handprint.

"And this!" Charlie beamed as he pulled a huge stuffed toy dragon from behind his back. "Well, I can't take this to the Dragon reserve with me can I? They'll tease me something rotten!"

Ron chuckled as Charlie smooshed the cuddly toy into his face.

"But I don't want to leave him all alone gathering dust in my bedroom while I'm gone. I thought you could keep each other company?"

Ron launched himself at Charlie and gave him a tight cuddle.

"I don't want you to go."

Charlie held Ron's face against his chest with a gentle hand at the back of the little red head.

"I'm really gonna miss you, Ronnie. You've got to write to me every day all right? You've got to stand up to Fred and George and take care of Ginny and make sure you don't get under mum's feet. Every time you write to me I promise I'll write back straight away little fella. I swear."

"I could be quiet and I'd stay out of the way..." Ron looked up, giving his plea for freedom one last try.

"There's lots of big scaries out there Ron, you know I hate seeing you frightened. You stay here and remember what a brave lad you are, eh? You didn't cry when you hurt your arm did you? You're a big strong lad and you can look after yourself without me now."

Ron's little arms curled around Charlie's body and squeezed tightly.

Charlie kissed the top of his baby brother's head and lifted him up into the little bed in the corner, setting him and his huge toy dragon down and pulling over the covers.

"You won't even notice I'm gone Ronnie," Charlie smiled before clicking his fingers, "time'll go by like that!"

* * *

Molly had waved her son off and burst into tears on Arthur's shoulder before heading home. 

"They're all starting to leave Arthur, one by one they fly the nest and Charlie's flying straight into the dragon's mouth!"

"Come now Molly," Arthur chuckled, "you've two little ones who aren't even of school age yet and you're packing and shoving them out the door already."

Molly sniffed.

"Oh but Arthur dear, it will only be two more years before the house is empty for most of the year, Ronnie and Ginny off to school and me in this big house all alone all day long. What am I going to do with myself?"

"We'll think of something Molly my love," Arthur sighed, "but until then you could smother and spoil the little ones rotten until they go away."

Molly seemed happy about this and kissed her husband on the cheek before heading up to check on her sleeping children.

Well they were supposed to have been sleeping.

Percy was sitting up in bed reading quietly, begging for another five minutes to finish his chapter, and the twins were sitting bolt upright and concealing something under their pillows. Molly eyed them suspiciously before wishing them a goodnight and closing the door. She passed by Ginny's room and heard her sitting up and talking to herself, making up stories for her headless dollies. All Ginny's dollies were headless thanks to the twins.

Then she was off to check on Ronnie in the room just beneath the attic. Opening the door she saw him lying still under the covers and sighed sadly. Ronnie was going to pine for Charlie even more than she was. She crept over to her littlest boy's bed to give him a kiss goodnight and, leaning over the lump under the covers, screamed at the top of her lungs.

"_ARTHUR!"_

The whole house came to life and Molly was shaking as she pulled back the blankets to see Ronnie's bed empty but for a huge toy dragon.


	2. Excess Baggage

**Excess Baggage**

Charlie flung open his trunk and looked down with terrified fury at his baby brother squinting back up at him. He lunged forward and grabbed the ten year old boy by the front of his jumper and hauled him out of the trunk, shaking with anger, and bellowed into the youngster's face.

"You stupid little idiot!" Charlie roared. "Do you have any idea what could have happened to you? Do you?"

Charlie shook little Ronnie while the underage stowaway blinked against the bright light of the flaming torches that lit the campsite and kicked his dangling legs.

"You could have suffocated in there!" Charlie yelled directly into his baby brother's face. "What if my shrinking charm hadn't shrunk you too and you got crushed to death? Did you even think about poor mum when she found out you were gone?"

Ronnie's crumpled little face began to grow pink and his big blue eyes turned downwards sadly.

"I didn't think she'd notice," Ron muttered and stuck out his bottom lip.

"Of course she bloody noticed!" Charlie said incredulously, before his shoulders fell and he hugged his little brother to him tightly. "Merlin, Ron, I knew you felt invisible but I didn't think you actually believed it. Mum noticed you were gone right away."

Charlie felt his brother's little arms curling around him as far as they could reach.

"I didn't know what to think at first," Charlie sighed into Ronnie's hair, "everybody thought you'd run away and then we all panicked you were going to try to follow me. It was Fred and George who said you could have climbed into my trunk and come along with me when I left."

"They just want to get me in trouble," Ronnie grumbled.

"They just wanted to find their little brother you twit!" Charlie stood Ron upon a bench before him and held him by the shoulders. "I thought I explained to you, Trouble, it's far too dangerous here for you."

"But it's dangerous at home too!" Ronnie protested, "Fred and George don't like me and they want me out the way, I've heard them."

"They're winding you up!" Charlie tried to explain.

"They want me gone and I wanted to go," Ronnie said, stubbornly. "I can stay here just until they go back to school Charlie, just for a little while and I'll be good I promise."

"You're going right back home Ron!" Charlie said firmly.

"I'm not! Everybody keeps telling me '_not now Ronnie'_ or '_go away Ronnie'_ and I won't go back."

"Weasley?" an authoritative voice called out from one of the larger tents. "He did stow away then did he? Oh well, no harm done."

Charlie frowned at his team leader, a lean man with leathery skin and thin white hair that had aged before his time, as the man leaned inside his tent again before pulling out a chipped mug of something steaming hot. As the wizard made his way over to them he blew on the contents of the mug with a smile.

"It's too late to send the little terror home now, Weasley, give him this and let him bunk down with you for the night."

Charlie was about to protest that his mother would be anxious for her missing son to return home as soon as possible, but the wizard handed the mug to Ronnie with a kindly smile.

"Drink up, little Weasley, what's your name, lad?"

"Ron," Ronnie answered as he took the mug with both hands and looked into it with interest.

"It tastes of chocolate, young Ron," the wizard nudged Ronnie with his elbow and winked.

Ron chuckled and took a big gulp. As soon as Ronnie swallowed the man grabbed for the mug and looked at Charlie urgently.

"Catch him Weasley, he's going!"

Charlie looked at Ron, whose eyelids were heavy and head lolling, before grabbing for him just as he fell asleep.

"Wow, that's fast!" Charlie exclaimed.

"They call me the tranquiliser king!" the man smiled before ruffling Ronnie's hair, "Oh don't worry, Weasley, it's nothing that will do him any harm. It'll just make sure he sleeps through 'till morning and doesn't give us any trouble. We can't have a young lad wandering this land."

"No, I know, I'm really sorry." Charlie cradled Ronnie's limp body in his arms and sputtered more apologies as his team leader made his way back to his tent.

"Get some sleep, Weasley. Good night to you both."

"'Night," Charlie called out before sighing and looking back down at his sleeping brother. "Great first impression you made me there, thanks mate."

* * *

When Charlie woke up he had forgotten everything. For three bewildering seconds he forgot why he was in a tent and not his room, he forgot he was in Romania and not England, and he forgot that his little brother was supposed to be lying beside him.

Everything hit him at once and he thrashed his way out of his sleeping bag and threw back the tent flap, heart pounding nineteen to the dozen. He froze on his hands and knees at the sight of little Ronnie sitting at the rickety table with the team leader and some other early risers from the team eating breakfast.

"Ah Weasley! Good morning to you. Young Ron needed to answer the call of nature so I helped him pick a tree and sorted him out some breakfast, eats like a Welsh Green this one!"

Ronnie giggled through a mouthful of eggs and bacon and a witch in her twenties who was sitting beside him ruffled his hair. Charlie got to his feet and made his way over to the table.

"Look I'm really sorry for all the trouble, I'll get him back home as soon as possible, he won't get in the way I promise."

"He's not in the way, very enthusiastic, actually," the team leader grinned at Ronnie, "he's been telling us all about the different breeds of dragon his big brother taught him about."

Charlie's eyes flickered over to Ronnie's happy face and then back at the white haired man.

"Seems you're something of an encyclopaedia on the subject. Marvellous to have to on board Weasley!" the man beamed before patting the space on the bench beside him. "Pull up a splinter and tell me how you feel about Griffins."

Charlie sat down and took the plate another of the team, a Nordic sounding man called Olaf, handed him with a roll of the eyes and a comment that suggested that once you got the old man started on Griffins there was no stopping him, and began to serve himself from the plates in the centre of the table.

As Charlie began to talk griffins with his new boss a fat man with very bad posture trudged out of a grease stained tent some way away and rubbed his bloodied hands down the front of his apron. The apron itself looked as if it had been ripped from the back of a nearby cow that morning; it stank and dripped with nasty fluids. Ronnie frowned at Charlie's disgusted expression and swivelled in his seat to look behind him. His little arm waved frantically and he jumped down from the table before hopping up again urgently.

"May I be excused Mr McVitie?"

The team leader shook his head in wonder and waved Ronnie off.

"I've not heard manners like it, come from a good family eh Weasley?"

"Um..." Charlie chewed his mouthful hurriedly. "Yesh."

He gulped his food painfully and his eyes watered but McVitie was already watching Ronnie hopping back down from the table again and leaning to pick up his empty plate from the table. Ronnie carried the plate, knife and fork over to the huge explosion of blood and sinew and handed it to the man.

Charlie wasn't altogether comfortable at his baby brother getting close to a man who looked like he was rotting from the outside in, but McVitie gave him an elbow to the ribs and a wink.

"Don't worry, he's our chef."

Charlie almost gagged on his bacon and Olaf and the witch opposite him snorted with laughter.

"Not _our_ chef!" McVitie chuckled. "I mean he prepares the meat and offal for the dragons every day. Hence the...residue."

Charlie sighed and watched as Ronnie was handed a small jar by the man and sent back to the table.

"Charlie, look what Stebson gave me!" Ronnie said as he lifted the jar onto the table. "Dragon frog spawn!"

Charlie raised his eyebrows and peered into the jar.

"That's cold water Ronnie, you can put them in the pond at home."

"I know, that's what Stebson said," Ronnie beamed, "and they have scales and look like little dragons and they can catch flies with little puffs of fire but if you look after them when they're tadpoles they never burn you for their whole life _ever!"_

"That's right Young Ron," McVitie said, "they will think you are their parent."

Ron's eyes grew wide and he stared into the jar of jelly like eggs.

"Wow. You can burn Fred and George for me!"

Charlie rolled his eyes and dropped his head in his hands while everybody else around the table laughed.

"Oh great, mum's gonna love that."

"Stebson said he unbreakabled the jar so it won't smash when I go back home," Ronnie said as he crawled back onto the bench.

"That's good, I'll get you back as soon as I've eaten, okay?" Charlie smiled.

Ronnie's face fell a little.

"But the dragon frogs aren't big enough to burn Fred and George yet, who's going to protect me?"

Charlie shifted uncomfortably in his seat and the others put their heads down and pretended they weren't listening.

"They will, Ronnie, Fred and George will protect you, they get a bit carried away with their jokes and tricks but I promise you that if you go to their room in the middle of the night like you used to mine they'll take good care of you."

"They won't," Ronnie pouted, "they don't like me."

"No Ronnie, they don't," Charlie said sincerely, "but they love you."

He draped his strong arm around Ronnie's small shoulders and gave him a hug before continuing the Griffin conversation with McVitie.

* * *

_A/N Some of you were interested in how I'm raising money for AIDS research with my fic writing._

_The way 'Quills For a Cause' works is a bunch of writers and fan artists all agree to write or draw for the month of February and other people on Live Journal can sponsor them per piece of art or per word of fic. they can also offer a flat rate for the month. I have four sponsors and have been writing all sorts of different pairings for Ron as well as this. There's some slash over on LJ and also a Ron turns into a woman and has lesbian sex with Hermione fic there too._

_I don't post smut or slash here but if you go to Live Journal and look up the comm Ronsexuals you will be able to read everything I'm posting towards QFaC._

_So I'm writing and they are paying up - that's how it works!_


	3. They Kill Dragons Don't They?

**They Kill Dragons, Don't They?**

Owls had been going back and forth for an hour now. Charlie had made all the arrangements for somebody to meet Ronnie at the International Portkey terminal and see he took the right Portkey back to London. There his dad would be waiting for him to floo him back home.

He'd left Ronnie to listen to Olaf and Chrissie, that was the witch's name, telling him about all the close calls they had with dragons on the reserve. Charlie wasn't comfortable with Chrissie's willingness to strip off and show her scars to a fascinated Ronnie, but no matter how many times he mouthed the words _'ten years old'_ to her, she still didn't quite get it.

McVitie had been very helpful helping to arrange Ronnie's return and had been quite a hit with Charlie's little terror of a brother. It was a shame. Here, everybody paid attention to Ronnie and wanted to show off to him, it was like a competition to see who could impress him more, and yet when Ronnie went back home it would be to a clingy overprotective mother and brothers who just wanted him out of the way.

Maybe he should spend some more time with the little runt before he had to go. As far as Ronnie knew, all Charlie had wanted since he found out he had stowed away was to be rid of him. He tramped out of his tent and snuck up beside Ronnie while Olaf was entrancing him with the story of his missing thumb. Charlie grinned and began to creep quietly as he drew nearer and, just as Olaf got to the big dragon attack part of his story, Charlie snatched Ronnie up in his arms and growled into his neck.

Ronnie squealed and then went into convulsions of laughter as Charlie blew raspberries into his skin.

"Geddoff!" Ronnie chuckled.

"Oh, so is that how we fend off ravenous attackers here then?" Charlie looked at Olaf and Chrissie before dangling Ronnie upside down by the ankles. "When I find myself being chewed up in the jaws of a Short Snout I'll just shout '_geddoff!_' and I'll be free?"

Ronnie's little arms swung playfully at Charlie's legs before he squealed as his older brother righted him again and threw him over his shoulder.

"You're a bite sized snack for a dragon y'know? Maybe we should give them an early feeding."

"No!" Ronnie laughed and screamed at the same time.

Charlie slapped Ronnie on the behind and marched off towards the forest.

"Bait doesn't talk!"

"Ah, he's got a point there Ronnie," Chrissie shrugged, "try not to make too much noise as the big fella chews you up."

"It gives him indigestion," Olaf called with a grin.

"Charlie, stop it!" Ron chortled as he flailed his little fists and hit Charlie on the backside several times. "I'll tell on you."

Charlie gasped and set Ron down on the grass before him.

"You dirty snitch!"

Ronnie sniggered and got ready to run away from his brother before McVitie grabbed him from behind and hoisted him up on his shoulders.

"Now I think we've got time to show young Ron the nursery, don't you, Weasley?" the white haired man smiled.

"You're breeding?" Charlie blinked. "I didn't think that was allowed."

"It's not, and no, we aren't..." McVitie covered Ronnie's ears with his hands, "sex with dragons is frowned upon unless you're another dragon," the team leader uncovered a frowning Ronnie's ears while Charlie laughed. "Unfortunately we have a poaching problem in these parts and lots of young are being left parentless."

"We're hand rearing them but trying to keep our distance so they don't get too dependant on humans to take care of them," Chrissie said, as she approached with Olaf and Stebson.

Charlie noticed that Stebson carried a bag made from sacking that oozed something almost black.

"You remember that lesson when your spawn hatch, young 'un," Stebson grunted at Ronnie.

"Ah yes, can't let the dragon frogs depend on their mummy for too long otherwise they'll all die out without you," McVitie said before turning and setting off towards the nursery.

"What breeds have you got sir?" Charlie followed on eagerly.

"Mostly cross breeds at the moment, the dragons have to mate outside their breed in order to reproduce. We've no Norwegian blues at all...pining for the fjords I suppose."

"Pining for the fjords?" Ronnie frowned as he bobbed along on McVitie's shoulders.

"It's another way of saying dead, young'un," Stebson said bluntly.

* * *

Ronnie was gazing at the dragon eggs in amazement before Chrissie made him laugh by whispering something to him about a massive omelette.

Olaf and McVitie were talking Charlie through the nursery area and showing him the suckling machine they'd set up for the new hatchlings.

"Of course eggs go for a fortune on the black market and there's a demand for infant dragon blood, the purity of it makes it more valuable than gold."

"We lost a whole nest two weeks ago," Olaf said, sadly. "Mother slaughtered and stripped to the bone, eggs stolen and nest burned for good measure."

"Why burn the nest?" Charlie frowned.

"That was for our benefit," McVitie said with a weary sigh, "there's something of a war between us and the main gang of poachers who target this area. They burned our camp out several times too, hope you didn't bring anything of too much value Weasley, chances are you'll lose it soon enough."

Charlie looked at Ronnie as he watched Chrissie holding an egg up to the light so he could see the shadow of the baby dragon moving around inside.

"The only thing I can't afford to lose is leaving in half an hour anyway."

McVitie slapped Charlie on the back and smiled warmly.

"Lovely little lad that one, Weasley. I'd be glad to let him visit you if we were reassigned to a safer territory but as I said...with arson and sabotage all around us the risk is too high."

"Charlie," Ronnie ran over to his brother, full of excitement, "I saw a baby dragon in the egg. Right inside, Charlie!"

"Yeah?" Charlie bent down and picked Ronnie up so he could look down into the pen with the new hatchlings inside.

"Oh wow!" Ronnie gasped.

"They keep the eggs in the fire so they're as cosy as their mum would have made them and they take them out just as they begin to hatch."

"Can I hold one?" Ronnie asked eagerly.

"I'm afraid not, young Ron," McVitie said, ruffling Ronnie's hair as was now his custom to do, "one bite from these little things and you'll be sick for a week."

Ronnie frowned and Charlie mumbled into his ear.

"I know how you feel titch; I wanna play with them too."

"Don't they miss their mums and dads?" Ronnie asked as Charlie leaned over with him to get a closer look.

"I don't think they knew their mother and father before they hatched. The poachers kil... The baby dragons only know the people at the reserve who look after them."

"Like my dragon frogs will with me?" Ronnie asked.

"Exactly," Charlie nodded with a smile.

Ronnie looked very thoughtful for a moment before turning to call out to Stebson.

"So what happened to the mum and dad of my dragon frogs? Did they get poached too?"

"'S different with frogs son," Stebson said gruffly, "they lay their eggs and bugger off."

"Stebson, language!" Chrissie said as she slapped Stebson on the arm.

Ronnie was laughing and Charlie couldn't help but join in, when the ground shook and an almighty boom made them all cower. Charlie put his hand over Ronnie's head protectively while Stebson swore even more severely than before and ran out of the nursery area with his wand drawn.

"They've hit the camp!" McVitie said as he set off after his '_chef_', calling over his shoulder to Charlie as he went. "Keep the boy in here. The nursery is warded; it's the safest place for him."

Charlie was about to say something when Olaf and Chrissie ran out after the others and the two redheads were left alone with the young dragons and fragile eggs incubating in the fire.

"Charlie?" Ronnie asked as he clung to his big brother tightly.

"It's okay Ronnie mate, you're with me and all these fierce dragons, nobody's gonna hurt you."

"But they want to hurt the dragons and everybody left them."

"No little man, they're messing up our tents, they're just like bullies, just like Fred and George, and Stebson and the others have gone to tell them off and shoo them away. That's all it is okay?"

Ronnie still seemed anxious and wriggled to get down.

"I wanna see."

"No!" Charlie said firmly, and tightened his grip on his squirming brother.

"But..."

"Ronnie I said no!" Charlie snapped harshly.

Ronnie's head dropped and Charlie felt like shit. Before he could open his mouth to say anything, he suddenly realised that they were going to miss Ronnie's International Portkey and that there was no way he could arrange another at such short notice.

"Look, tyke," Charlie sighed, "you're probably going to have to stay here for another night and there are some nasty people around. I didn't mean to shout at you but you have to listen to me and do as you're told, okay?"

There was another ground shaking explosion and one of the dragon eggs rolled out of the fire. Charlie could hear shouting and drew his wand.

"You stay out of sight, curl up really small like you're hiding from that bludger again, and don't come out unless it's anybody but me understand?"

"Where are you going?"

"I'm just going to guard the door to make sure they stay out, okay?"

Charlie gave Ronnie a gentle shove backwards before walking to the entrance of the nursery. He saw his little brother crawl over to the cooling egg and pick it up to roll it back into the flames. He smiled at him and gave him a nod of encouragement to go and hide.

Charlie clenched his jaw and moved away from the nursery to defend the young ones..._all_ the young ones.


	4. Cradle Snatchers

**Cradle Snatchers**

Ronnie was doing exactly as he was told.

He made himself as tiny as he could and held his breath as he curled up inside the smelly bag Stebson had carried the dragon food in. The bag was empty now but was still wet and smelly on the inside. He could feel the ground shaking and more big booming explosions.

He let out a tiny squeak and wished that Charlie would come back soon. A baby dragon let out a squawking kind of roar and Ronnie felt something moving down his back. Oh no, there was a spider in the feed bag with him. He wriggled out and kicked the smelly sacking away, stamping both feet on top of it to squash the spider inside, and heard footsteps running towards him.

"I thought I told you to hide!" Charlie said, sounding breathless and annoyed.

"I did, but there was a spider," Ronnie pointed at the sack.

Charlie grabbed his extended arm and dragged him up to his feet.

"I meant what I said Ron, no matter what – even if there are spiders, you be brave and quiet and stay hidden until I say otherwise, alright?"

Ron nodded, sadly. Charlie looked him up and down with a frown.

"What the hell is this stuff all over you?"

"Slimy stuff from the feed bag," Ron pointed to the grubby sack on the ground.

Charlie dragged Ronnie over to a wobbly work bench and ordered him to crawl underneath it and stay down. Ronnie did as he was told, watching as Charlie ran to the abandoned sack on the ground and snatched it up. He hurried back to the pen of newly hatched dragons and waved his wand over them, sending them to sleep, before leaning over and picking them up one by one to place gently inside the sack.

There was a louder explosion and the ground shook so hard Charlie fell over. Ronnie was about to call out and ask if he was all right when Chrissie ran inside and bent double, clutching her side.

"You all right?" Charlie asked her.

"Got...stitch!" she panted before glancing around. "Where's your brother?"

"Hiding," Charlie said, before calling over his shoulder, "You stay still as a statue Ronnie, not a peep remember?"

Ronnie clamped both his hands over his mouth. Chrissie grabbed a metal bucket and cast an enlargement charm on it. She scooped up some hot coals from the fire before levitating the eggs inside one by one.

"We lost the camp, good job we were all down at the nursery, who knows what would have happened if they'd attacked while the little one was exploring," Chrissie shouted over the din.

Charlie glanced over in Ronnie's direction before chewing on his bottom lip and sighing deeply.

"Ronnie, you do what Chrissie tells you until I get back." He turned to the stunned looking witch, red hot bucket of dragon eggs in her gloved hands, "I'm going to help the others salvage as much as we can and get them back to the nursery without giving up its position."

"Weasley, wait!" Chrissie called out after him as Charlie ran out of sight. "I'm a dragon specialist, not a baby sitter!"

* * *

Charlie's feet pounded up the slight slope towards the burning tents and he saw half a dozen figures in tatty robes, scorched and patched with leather, duelling with McVitie and Stebson. Olaf was on the ground clutching his face with both hands and being protected by a faltering shield.

Charlie reinforced the shield before joining the fight against the saboteurs.

"Weasley!" McVitie roared furiously. "Get back to that boy now!"

"Chrissie's with him," Charlie yelled back, "and I'm doing a better job of protecting him out here than hiding down there."

A jet of fire cut through the air between them and burnt the arm Charlie raised before him defensively. He could smell burning hair and then heard the sudden hiss of steam as water was sent at him by Stebson's wand, evaporating as it doused the flames.

McVitie's robes were on fire and Olaf was trying to heal himself blindly on the ground. It was just Charlie and Stebson against the poachers. Jets of red and orange light cut through the smoke and flames at them and they dived to the ground, rolling away and firing spells back. Charlie couldn't see their attackers so he aimed for the place he'd seen the spells originate.

There were three cracks and then another explosion of fire shook the ground and knocked them all off their feet. If Charlie hadn't fallen he would have been struck in the chest by the blood red lightning bolt that darted toward him.

"They've separated!" McVitie yelled over the roar of the fireball that blackened the grass and ignited the surrounding trees.

"Get Olaf back to the nursery and I'll hold the scum off with McVitie and then help him back. We need the cover of the nursery's wards."

Charlie nodded, eager to get back to Ronnie now he knew the gang of poachers had split up, and hauled Olaf up by the arm. He dragged the wounded wizard along with him as he hurried back down the slope and into the shadows.

"Olaf, get us through the wards, can you do that?" Charlie grunted as he heaved the staggering Norwegian along with him.

"Am I facing the right way?" The man asked as he blinked his slowly healing eyes and raised his wand before him.

"Yeah, go for it!" Charlie yelled over yet another fireball explosion, followed by more cracks of Disapparition.

_Or was that Apparition?_

Olaf shouted the spell and flicked his wand at the wards.

"_Permeo!_"

Just as the spell hit the invisible wards and made the image of the entrance to the nursery waver as if an intense heat was distorting the straight lines, three figures ran from under cover ahead of them and through the temporary opening.

"No!" Charlie yelled, almost dropping Olaf.

"What? Did I miss?" Olaf asked in a panic.

"Weasley," McVitie was bellowing as footsteps thundered from behind them, "hurry before they put their own wards up!"

Charlie dropped Olaf and sprinted for the opening, shoulder first, grimacing with hope to get through and fear for Ronnie if he couldn't. He fell through and Stebson flung himself after but bounced back from the invisible shield and slammed onto his back on the ground.

Charlie was on his own. He drew his wand and ran through to the nursery to help Chrissie protect Ronnie and the young hatchlings. What he saw turned his stomach.

Chrissie was standing over little Ronnie, who lay still on the floor at her feet, and holding the red hot metal bucket of dragon eggs with one gloved hand while the other pointed her wand at his chest. The three poachers also had their wands drawn and were gathering up the bag of sedated hatchlings while pointing wands at Charlie, too.

"What...Chrissie what are you doing?"

"Getting a good price," the witch said, coolly. "I've nurtured this lot so they would survive the trip and I planned the ambush to the last detail but shit, Weasley," she shook her head and smiled before lowering her wand down to Ronnie on the ground, "I never factored for a little kid as well."

"Don't," Charlie said, still holding his wand out and pointing it right at her, "you got your eggs and the young, you'll get your bloody money, there's no reason to hurt him."

Chrissie smirked and rolled Ronnie over with her foot. Charlie could see that he was unconscious and seemingly unhurt.

"Terrible really, isn't it, Weasley?" Chrissie said nonchalantly as two of the poachers skulked behind her with their ill gotten gains. "One of these eggs is worth more than he is."

Charlie gripped his wand so tightly he felt the wood giving a little in his clenched fist.

"He...is worth...all of it!" he snarled through gritted teeth.

Chrissie smiled and nodded to the third of her poacher cohorts as they moved towards Ronnie.

"He is a sweetheart, I'll give you that, Weasley. Remember this; you left him with somebody you knew less than a day. This is no place for little kids. Trevor," Chrissie glanced to the poacher looming over Ronnie's sleeping form, "bring him."

"What d'we need a bloody kid for?" Trevor grumbled as he stooped over and scooped little Ronnie up from the ground and threw him over his shoulder where he hung like a rag doll, arms swinging.

"Insurance," Chrissie said with a shrug before staring fiercely at Charlie, "you're going to let us leave and you won't follow us."

"I'm not letting any of you go anywhere with my little brother," Charlie took a step forward and aimed his wand between Chrissie's eyes, "you can go, all of you and your eggs and baby dragons can piss off and I won't chase after you, but you leave Ronnie here with me."

Chrissie's face twisted angrily and she pointed her wand at Ronnie's sleeping face.

"Drop the wand otherwise I'll wake him up so he can feel my boys hurting him."

Charlie dropped his wand arm to his side and his voice caught at the back of his throat.

"He isn't worth anything to you! Our family don't have any money to pay a ransom if that's what you're thinking. My brother and my dad are gonna come out here and we're gonna find you and if he's so much as crying we're gonna fucking kill you!"

Chrissie set the bucket of scalding hot eggs down and pulled the protective glove off with her teeth. She reached for Ronnie's body and cradled him to her, wand still pointing at him threateningly, while forcing the glove into Trevor's hand.

"You take the eggs, I'll deal with the kid, he knows me."

Charlie made a move towards her but she shook her head warningly.

"I'll leave him somewhere for you to find him when we're far enough away. He'll be fine as long as we are, understand?"

"I give you my word, I won't follow you," Charlie said shakily, "give him to me now."

The wards were broken and McVitie's shouts grew louder. Chrissie flicked her wand and thick black smoke filled the nursery. Charlie leaped into the smoke and flailed his arms in the space he'd last seen his brother but he didn't feel anything.

"Ronnie!" he bellowed before choking on the heavy smoke.

"Weasley, what's going on?" McVitie was calling out, "Where are you?"

"Where's the boy?" Stebson demanded gruffly before the smoke dispersed and Charlie's watering eyes, stinging and red from the harsh black cloud, focused on his confused and worried colleagues.

"Chrissie," Charlie coughed, "it was an inside job. She got everything, she took everything."

"She took the eggs and the hatchlings? All of them?" Stebson frowned as he glanced around the empty smoke filled nursery.

"_She took Ron!"_


	5. Big Brother

**Big Brother**

When Ron woke up, he felt very sleepy and it was dark all around him.

"Charlie?" he called out in a little voice, unsure if he was still supposed to be hiding or not.

A bright light and a loud bang make him cower as a square hole opened above him and light poured inside, hurting his eyes.

"Hello, little fella," Chrissie was saying, kindly, "you did a bang up job of hiding."

"D'I fall asleep?" he winced up at the dark shape that blocked out the sun.

"You got hit by a spell but your brother and the others got all the nasty people trying to hurt the babies. He asked me to keep you safe until you woke up."

Ron couldn't see if Chrissie was smiling but she sounded as if she was. He got to his feet and felt something brush against his arm. He made a little squealing sound and hugged his arms to himself with a shudder.

"What's the matter, titch?" Chrissie called down to him.

"Nothing," Ron said, not wanting to tell the tough dragon handler that he was afraid of spiders and cobwebs and being in the dark with either one of them.

"Oh, right," Chrissie said, sounding strange and her shadow appearing to nod down to him, "so you'll be alright to stay hidden down there for a bit longer then, yeah?"

Ron suddenly felt a shiver taking his whole body and rattling it to the bone. He gulped and bit his bottom lip.

"You're not scared of the dark are you, Ronnie?" Chrissie said, sounding disappointed with him.

"No!" Ron said, trying to sound brave like Charlie.

"So I can close this trapdoor again and you'll be a good little bloke and stay very quiet for me?"

It sounded as if Chrissie was sneering at him in the same way Fred did when he was about to trick him into doing something nasty. Ron didn't want them to know he was frightened. He didn't want them to laugh at him.

"I'm the best at hiding ever!" Ron said fiercely.

"Good for you!" Chrissie said as she rose to her feet and kicked the trapdoor closed again.

The heavy door made an almighty banging sound and dust fell down into Ron's eyes. He sputtered and waved his arms around to fan the grit away from his face. He was in the pitch black again. He hugged his arms to himself and tried not to move; he didn't want to walk into any webs.

His skin crawled at the thought of there being things down in the dark with him he couldn't see, things that could see him, and he looked back up at the place the light had been pouring in just before.

Charlie wouldn't have left him alone in the dark.

* * *

McVitie was healing the last of the damage to Olaf's eyes while Stebson tore apart the remains of the nursery and swore repeatedly about the traitor Chrissie hiding behind a little one to make her escape.

"She always was a bitch!" he growled, kicking over a water trough. "Always looking down her nose at me, the offal slopper!"

"Stebson, calm down!" McVitie snapped, before moving away from Olaf as he blinked his watering eyes.

"We couldn't have known," Olaf blinked. "I was in the training programme with her. I've known her for almost a year now. She fooled us all."

"She took the little boy!" Stebson bellowed, punching through a wooden support beam as if it was a matchstick. "Treated me like a person young Ron did, asked me questions about things and listened to me, lovely little lad and she just hexed him and took him away so we wouldn't stop her."

Charlie shook and his fists balled up tightly. He was hunched against the wall beside the splintered hole the poachers had escaped through. He wanted to do what Stebson was doing, he wanted to scream and shout and tear the place apart but instead he concentrated his fury into a well deep inside himself. He compacted it all down tightly and stored it up so when he saw that scum again he could let rip and not stop until he had his brother back.

He felt like a human howler waiting to go off.

Ronnie was a brave little kid, but he was also easily upset and very frightened of little things like spiders and creepy crawlies and noises in the dark. His knuckles popped at the thought of Chrissie doing anything to scare the little ten year old. She already knew he was easily bullied, she'd heard him at breakfast, if she...

"I've never hit a woman before," Charlie heard himself saying.

"You won't have to," Stebson said gruffly as he stood before Charlie and offered him a hand up. "I'm gonna kick her into tomorrow and you're going to find the lad and take him home to his mother."

"Stebson, come now," McVitie said warily, "we can't physically assault anyone when we find them. Defensive and restraining spells are what's called for, that, and cool heads."

"That's for poachers, not kidnappers!" Stebson boomed over his shoulder at his team leader as he pulled Charlie up to his feet.

"Look she's not a..." Olaf couldn't bring himself to say whatever he was thinking and winced, shaking his head before changing his phrasing. "Chrissie is a bloody liar and a treacherous sell out, she sold her morals down the river, but for all that I know she wouldn't hurt a kiddie. I know she wouldn't."

"Why?" Charlie snapped. "Because she's a woman and women all love kids? I thought he was safe with her too, and look what happened! I left him with her, _I left him!"_

"It's not your fault Weasley," McVitie said sadly.

"No it bloody isn't," Charlie growled, "it's hers and I'm going to track her down and make sure she learns that nobody treats my brother like that, like he's nothing but a human shield to hide behind. He's worth more than her and all those eggs and dragons put together and nobody steals anything that precious from me."

Stebson slapped Charlie on the back.

"I'll help you track him Weasley. They won't have got far with a bucket of eggs and embers and a bag of sleeping dragons who'll need a feed any time now."

"Indeed," McVitie nodded. "They can't Disapparate without risking splinching the un-hatched dragons from the eggs and they can't Portkey with a red hot bucket without hurting themselves or risking the hatchlings."

"They'll be on foot and we'll find them," Olaf nodded.

Charlie remembered Chrissie's parting words. She said she was going to leave Ronnie somewhere for them to find. What if she just left him unconscious in the open somewhere? He was defenceless and in an environment with nothing but predators. Without dragons around to scare the wolves and razor clawed Bodmin beasts, he was going to be in big trouble.

"We have to find him now," Charlie said darkly, "before it gets dark."

* * *

He was a good climber.

As Ronnie's feet scrabbled against the loose bricks he reached up and pushed the trapdoor open a crack to peep out. He could hear voices and he didn't recognise any of them.

"Are we getting a transport for tonight or what?" a gravely voiced man said.

"The buyer's supposed to be sending something at sundown," another rough male voice grunted.

Ronnie pushed the trapdoor up a little more and scanned the room for Charlie but nothing and nobody was familiar. Then he did see something he recognised, a metal bucket sitting in the blazing fireplace. It was the eggs. He was still with the eggs so these people must be on Mr McVitie's dragon team.

Ron was about to push open the trapdoor and pull himself through when he heard Chrissie's voice and held his breath at her cold tone.

"Somebody's got to dump the kid for them to find as well."

"Can't we just leave him in the cellar? You're so sure the '_chef_' is gonna track us here by nightfall anyway, they'll look down there and see..."

Too late Ron realised that the man had turned to gesture to the trapdoor and seen two wide blue eyes peeping out at him. As he let the trapdoor fall closed and lost his footing he heard pounding footsteps on the floorboards above and his hands clung to a hollow in the brickwork while his legs flailed for another foot hold.

The trapdoor was flung open and lots of wands pointed down at him before Chrissie dropped to her knees and scowled down at Ron as his fingers began to slip and his heart began to beat very fast against his chest.

"Well, who's a naughty boy then?" Chrissie said, sternly.

Ron let out a little whimper as he struggled to hold on to the bricks long enough to find a foothold again but the rough mortar beneath his fingers began to crumble and he reached around in a panic with his left hand for something stronger to support his weight.

"I thought I told you to stay down there and stay quiet."

Chrissie's angry words echoed in the cellar as the brickwork crumbled away and he began to fall. Ron gave a squeak of panic at the sudden jerk of the drop before a strong rough hand grabbed him around his left wrist and held him dangling several feet above the hard stone floor below.

"Up or down, Chrissie?" the man growled.

Ron's legs kicked in panic and he wanted to call out for Charlie but didn't want to sound like a scardey-cat and have the poachers laugh at him.

"What do you think Ronnie?" Chrissie smiled down at him. "Shall I tell him to drop you back down or lift you up here with all of us?"

Ron glared at her.

"When my brother catches you you're all gonna be pining for the fjords!"

Chrissie laughed and the burly looking men surrounding her stared at each other in confusion.

"Oh don't drop him Oggie," she slapped the man holding Ron's wrist on the back and stood up straight, "he's a funny little kid and he's afraid of the dark. Let's not be mean, eh?"

"I. Am. Not!" Ron snapped, angry that she was calling him a coward.

The man, Oggie, pulled Ron out of the trapdoor and flung him own onto the bare floorboards with a grunt. Ronnie could see the bucket of eggs again and now he saw the hatchlings, yawning and blinking their black eyes blearily, before Chrissie dragged him up to his feet by the back of his jumper.

"I'm going to give you some of McVitie's lovely chocolate drink that made you drop off to sleep so fast last night and then I'm going to give you to the boys to take you out to the forest for the others to find."

Ron swung a kick at Chrissie's legs but she avoided contact without much effort. She shoved him into the wall behind him and slapped his round cheek just hard enough to make his eyes water. Ron bit back the yelp and the urge to cry and stared at her.

"Didn't hurt," he said, defiantly.

One of the biggest men stepped up behind Chrissie and rolled up his sleeves. Ron had been cornered like this plenty of times and he was always sure of one way to get out of it when it was Fred picking on him while George lurked behind sniggering. He looked over Chrissie's shoulder and lit up his face brightly.

"Charlie!" he called out happily.

Both Chrissie and the large man turned around and drew their wands at the empty space behind them. Ron ran to the fireplace and kicked some hot coals at them while other scary poacher types rose from the table muttering threats at him. As Chrissie aimed a spell at Ron, he dove between her legs and slid to the trapdoor. He pulled it open and pulled on the robes of one of the poachers.

The man fell down the trapdoor and yelled as he landed with a crunchy sound that Ron guessed was a breaking leg. The little warrior crouched behind the open trapdoor as spells struck it and he crawled under a table while the others were focused on the trapdoor, splintering it into smithereens to get to him. He scrambled out behind them and pulled on a pair of the protective gloves before grabbing handfuls of hot coals from the fire and throwing them at the backs of the poachers. They spun and yelled and staggered into each other as they tried to shake off the red hot coals, knocking people near the trapdoor down the hole in the floor and sending hexes at each other in confusion.

Ron picked up a huge coal in the shape of an egg and threw it over Chrissie's shoulder. Her eyes were wide, she thought he'd thrown one of the dragon eggs, and she lunged for it, catching it with her bare hands and screaming in pain. Ron was getting confident now, he'd learned troublemaking from the best, and picked up a handful of hot ash. He tossed the ash into the eyes of the few standing poachers and grabbed the bucket from the fire.

He waddled with it over to the bag of drowsy dragons and flung it over his shoulder before struggling out of the door and dragging the heavy bucket towards the forest to find a place to hide.


	6. Protection

**Protection**

Ron stumbled and the bucket fell onto its side. Several eggs rolled out and he let out a little growl of frustration as he chased after the eggs and placed them back into the red hot metal container. He heard the door of the rickety cottage bursting open and placed the last egg back in the nest of burning coals hurriedly before dragging the bucket behind him and snatching up the bag of baby dragons as he set off on a laboured run.

He would get the babies and the eggs back to Charlie and Mr McVitie. He was good at hiding and he would hide from the poachers and that nasty Chrissie.

His cheek still stung from where she had hit him but Fred had punched him much harder than that and not made him cry. He wasn't going to cry because a girl had hit him. He was going to make Charlie proud of him this time.

"Ronnie," Chrissie was calling from outside the forest in a sing song voice, "it's dark in there and the hatchlings can't protect you. Come out, little one, and we'll see you get back to your big brother."

He ran faster, the bucket bumping along the ground behind him, and remembered what Charlie had said before he left him. He wasn't going to come out of his hiding place for anybody but him. It didn't matter who came along, if it wasn't Charlie he would stay hidden and wait longer. He had trusted Chrissie and she had been nasty.

Ron was puffing as he clambered deeper into the forest and stopped hearing the voices behind him. It was very dark and the ground was covered in leaves and fallen branches. He searched around for a place to climb or crawl so he could be out of sight if they followed the drag marks of the bucket.

Ronnie knew all about tracking, Charlie had showed him in one of his dragon books, and he knew the poachers would be just as good as Charlie was at finding him when he was trying to hide. There was a rustling of leaves behind him and Ron jumped. A squirrel darted across the forest floor and up a tall tree. Ron set down the bucket and looked around desperately.

He closed his eyes and tried to think. Percy told him to visualise the chess board when he got stuck and that always worked. He scrunched up his face and tried to visualise the forest inside his head. He seemed to open a book inside his head while looking around the leafy ground. The book was one of his baby books, he couldn't believe he'd remembered that. Why had he remembered his '_How to Find Wildlife_' book?

The pages fanned and stopped on birds nests high up in the trees, they fanned again and this time the book lay open on an illustration of a badger set. Ron frowned and bit his bottom lip as the pages fluttered by again and there was a big bold title that said '_Fox Holes and How to Identify Them_'.

Ron's eyes opened wide and he dropped to his knees and crawled around, swishing his arms over the leaves and hoping to uncover a tiny narrow hole in the ground just beneath the thick roots of the trees. It was too dark to see anything now and Ron had to reach into the bucket and pick up a glowing ember in his gloved hand as he continued searching for the hidden tunnel by the warm orange light.

Soon he felt a hollow and dragged out handfuls of dead grass and twigs, revealing bare bones of tiny animals and a narrow tunnel that kept on going and he stifled a yelp of triumph. He had found what he was looking for. He turned and grabbed the bag of groggy hatchlings and pushed them as far down the tunnel as his little arms could reach, then he tried to shove them a little further with one of his legs, before grabbing the metal bucket and pouring the hot coals and smouldering embers down the hole. He pushed the glowing nest of eggs down, away from the opening of the fox hole, and tossed on some twigs and dried leaves to keep the embers burning.

He shuffled back away from the exposed hole in the ground and gave a determined huff before grabbing large rocks and twigs, chunks of fallen branches and clumps of loose earth, and filled in the hole as fast as he could. As soon as the job was done he scattered leaves and dragged a large fallen branch across the front and turned to grab the empty bucket.

"Ronnie," Chrissie's voice was calling for him again and she sounded slightly creepy as her sing-song tones echoed from tree to tree, "come out, come out, wherever you are."

Ron swallowed and began to load up his bucket with egg sized rocks before dragging it deeper into the blackness of the forest, deliberately leaving a trail to follow.

* * *

With wands drawn Charlie, Stebson and the others charged into the shabby looking cottage.

There were surprisingly few poachers inside, only two or three tending to what looked like burns and breaks, and McVitie stunned them all in an instant. Olaf began to tear down curtains and tapestries, looking for anything that might be concealed, and McVitie glanced at the fireplace and saw it was empty. Charlie and Stebson were thundering around and calling out Ronnie's name, but there was no little voice calling back to them.

Stebson growled and turned on one of the stunned poachers on the bare floorboards to give him a swift kick in the ribs.

"Where're Chrissie and the boy?" the huge grease stain of a man bellowed.

Charlie was about to lean forward to threaten the man if Ronnie had been hurt in any way when he felt the level of the floorboards change beneath his foot and looked down. He was standing on the hinge of a trapdoor. He dropped to his knees and flung it open, lighting the tip of his wand and roaring down into the dank cellar.

"Ron? Ronnie are you down there, little mate? You all right?"

There was a moan and Charlie directed his wand into the corner and saw a poacher with a broken leg squinting up at him.

"Where's my brother, you scumbag?" Charlie snarled.

"Gemme out of here and I'll tell you," the man said, shifting and wincing as the slightest of movement hurt his shattered leg.

"Where is he?" Charlie pointed his wand down at the man, fiercely.

"I see little footprints," Stebson said as he pointed at the messy floorboards covered in ash and spilled coals, "little dusty footprints, red dust like brick."

Charlie's voice almost exploded out of him as he boomed down into the cellar.

"He climbed out of there, didn't he? Climbed out and knocked you in, is that it?"

"He escaped, all right? Now get me out of here and heal my bloody leg!"

Charlie stood up and glared at the pathetic looking man in his tatty robes.

"You put him down there on his own," Charlie's voice shook with fury. "You locked him down there in the dark with spiders and all sorts when you knew he was afraid and you scared him so much he climbed up a flat wall to get out and you expect me to heal you?"

Stebson kicked the trapdoor closed with a loud bang and cast a silencing charm over it as the man screamed out that he needed medical assistance. The poacher's voice was gone in an instant and Stebson threw a rug over the trapdoor and shared an intense look with Charlie.

"If we find the boy we'll tell somebody he's down there. If not...we won't."

Charlie drew in a shaky breath and nodded before casting his eyes around the other horrified poachers; Olaf had secured them all pretty fast.

"You are all going to tell me exactly what happened to the little kid that you had down there and it's going to be the truth, otherwise we'll be back."

Stebson smirked down at the rug that covered the trapdoor.

"Or worse...we won't."

* * *

The bucket had cooled and was banging against the back of Ron's legs as he ran as fast as he could. He was going to be bruised up, but Charlie would fix it. He was doing what the dragon books always said, and heading for the edge of an open space so he could see them coming and make himself seen but see any unfriendly predators and remain safely under cover.

The rocks clinked inside the bucket and slowed him down with their weight. He knew he needed them though, always be prepared for the worst to happen – that was what Percy had taught him in chess and Fred and George had taught him in life – and he knew that if Chrissie and the poachers caught up with him before Charlie came he would be able to occupy them with the bucket of decoy eggs.

His mum had read to him every night when he was little. When Ron had learned how to read he would retell all his favourite stories to Ginny who used to clap and squeal. One of the stories had a little fellow having to compete with a mighty giant. One of the contests was to crush a rock with his bare hand. The giant did it with ease and demanded that the little fellow do the same or be thrown into a stew and eaten.

Ron had always liked how clever the little fellow had been. He admired the way his mind worked. The little fellow in the story had his lunch with him, boiled eggs in their shells, and has picked up one of the stone coloured eggs and held it up.

'_I will crush this stone in my hand and you will flee in terror at what I will do to you with my superior strength'_

That's what the little fellow had said. The giant had laughed at him. The little fellow crushed the boiled egg in his hand and the shell and squishy innards oozed between his fingers and onto the ground. The giant had been shocked and when the little fellow had raised his fist to the bully he'd run away, terrified of what hidden powers the tiny man had in him, and the little fellow could carry on his way safely.

Charlie always called him '_little man'_ and that was what he was going to be. It didn't matter that he was smaller than everyone else; he was a good climber and a good hider and a good chess player and he was going to be as clever as the little fellow from the story.

He had been so focused on running through the blackness that he didn't make out the shape of that horrible big poacher Trevor until he bounced off his chest and fell backwards, metal bucket clattering.

"Careful you great prat!" Chrissie snapped at the large man.

Ron crawled backwards, dragging the bucket with him at an angle that hid the contents, and tried to stay out of their wand light.

"Come on now little warrior," Chrissie said with sarcasm, "you've been a good little conservationist and your brother will be all proud of you, but it's time to give me the eggs now."

"Where's the hatchlings?" a pointed faced poacher said as he stomped towards Ron and pointed the lit tip of his wand all over his body.

"Piss off, you rat faced bugger!" Ron snapped before stamping on the foot of the scrawny man and turning to run again.

He tripped over a loose root and the bucket went flying as he hit the ground hard. There was lots of shouting and levitation charms filled the air. The first was also the strongest and had come from quite a way away. The bucket floated and then zoomed into McVitie's waiting hand while Charlie and Stebson pointed their wands at the backs of the poachers and looked very angry.

"Ronnie?" Charlie shouted out as wands turned on him and Ron crawled through the scrawny poacher's bowed legs. "Did they hurt you? Are you all right?"

Ron opened his mouth to call out but a firm hand clamped over his mouth and he was lifted, kicking and squealing, off the ground as a wand was pressed into his throat and he saw Charlie's eyes widen in fear.

"Give me the eggs and I'll give you your brother, Weasley," Chrissie said fiercely.

Charlie glanced into the bucket at the rocks and then back at Ronnie with wide eyes.

"I can't do that Chrissie," he said, looking frightened for the first time since Ron had seen him.

Ron kicked with his legs and scratched at the hand clamped over his mouth, but he was all tired out from the running and Chrissie poked him harder with her wand.

"I want to see dragon eggs on three, otherwise I will kill your little runt of the litter right in front of you, Weasley," Chrissie hissed.

Charlie's eyes met Ron's and it was as if it didn't matter that one of them was a grown up and one of them was a kid, one was big and burly and the other was short and skinny, nothing mattered other than the faith they had in the other at that moment.

Between them they agreed that the days of Ickle Ronniekins being bullied were over, he was a hellion just like his brother and they were going to show these bullies what Weasleys were made of.


	7. Precious Things

**Precious Things**

He had never been so proud and scared in his life.

Charlie realised what Ronnie had done. He'd hidden the eggs and the hatchlings and drawn Chrissie and the poachers away from wherever they were stowed. He was clever and brave and selfless and he had a red mark on his face that made Charlie angrier than he had ever felt before.

They'd hit him.

They'd hit a little boy.

They'd hit _his_ baby brother.

He looked back into the bucket of rocks and realised that the only way to keep Ronnie from getting hurt any more would be to bluff as well as the little whippersnapper had done. He reached in and grabbed one of the fake eggs and hurled it through the trees and into the blackness. Both the poachers and the members of his team yelled out in shock.

"What the hell are you doing?" Chrissie demanded, as Ronnie squirmed and kicked at her.

"Give him back right now and I put this bucket down and walk away, Chrissie," Charlie said with as even a tone as he could manage on seeing the witch's hand leave Ronnie's mouth and grab a handful of red hair and pull hard in an attempt to stop him fighting her.

Charlie grabbed another rock and threw it quickly so they couldn't see anything but an egg-shaped blur disappearing into the forest.

"Wait!" one of the poachers begged him. "She didn't say no. Give him the kid, Chrissie!"

Charlie scowled at her and reached into the bucket again.

"You'd really smash all those eggs just for the little one, would you?"

Charlie nodded and stared back at her without blinking.

"Come now," McVitie said as he raised both his hands and tried to calm the tension. "None of us want that, do we?"

Charlie threw another '_egg_' with a grunt and Ronnie yelped as his head was pulled back by the hair and the wand was held to his smooth freckled throat.

"Every second I don't have my brother with me I smash another one and every time in between when I see her hurting him I..." Charlie threw another rock into the blackness, "...throw..." rapidly followed by a second, "...three!"

Charlie reached into the bucket for the next rock and one of the poachers lunged at Chrissie to try and wrestle Ronnie away from her. Charlie saw Ronnie's legs kicking at both of them and Stebson threw himself into the tussle in an attempt to extricate Ron without him getting hurt.

There was a bright flash of light and Stebson and the attacking poacher slumped to the ground.

"Stebson!" Ronnie cried out and dropped to his knees to try and shake the huge man awake.

"Gimme the eggs!" Chrissie yelled, furiously.

Charlie had a clear shot at her now Ronnie was on the ground and he took it.

"_Oppugno!_"

"_Protego!_" she retorted and the spells struck each other and fizzled out.

"_Expelliarmis!_" Charlie tried again as Chrissie screeched the same thing and both wands went flying.

Now they were both unarmed. He had hold of what she wanted most and she lifted her foot and pushed it down on Ronnie's back to remind Charlie she was still close enough to Ronnie to hurt him before he could stop her.

"Get off him or I'll blast you off!" Olaf threatened, but Chrissie knew her friend of almost a year wouldn't have it in him and laughed.

Ronnie was pinned to the ground beside Stebson and Charlie saw him pulling the unconscious man's wand from his limp hand and putting it into his pocket.

"On three!" Charlie yelled, looking at Chrissie to make her think he was challenging her to a Muggle duel but glancing at Ronnie's face so he knew what to do.

_Bless his heart, the little shortarse winked at him._

"One..."

Charlie gripped the metal bucket and watched as Chrissie lifted her foot off Ronnie's back and stepped towards him, flexing her hands before balling them up into tight fists, while one of the poachers covered the ten-year-old at wand-point.

"Two..." Chrissie sneered.

Charlie swung the metal bucket and flung the remaining rocks out at Chrissie, who screamed and tried to catch what she thought were valuable eggs, while the poachers abandoned their defensive posts and dove to the ground to catch the falling lumps. Chrissie was struck on the cheek by a pointed rock and dropped to her knees. Ronnie scrambled over to Stebson and covered his head with his body while holding his own arms over his bowed head protectively as the rocks fell.

Charlie ran forward and swung the bucket forward again, slamming it into Chrissie's face and knocking her out, and kept it swinging as he made his way over to Ronnie and Stebson. The bucket clipped several poachers, others were dazed on the floor from the rocks striking them in the head; McVitie and Olaf dealt with those who were trying to attack them with their wands.

An ape of a man was running at Charlie furiously. Charlie hurled the metal bucket at him and it caught the poacher square on the jaw. The man fell flat on his back. Charlie lifted Ronnie off Stebson and clung to him tightly. He glanced over at McVitie and saw that he was already thinking what Charlie was thinking.

"_Mobilicorpus!_" McVitie said with a flick of his wand, and Stebson's body floated up and glided across the forest floor towards them.

"I got you Ronnie," Charlie almost choked into Ronnie's hair. "It's okay now. You're going home."

"I can't yet," Ronnie said as he stared at Charlie as if he was stupid, "I have to show you when I hid all the babies."

Charlie couldn't help himself, he laughed in Ronnie's face. He laughed and kissed him on the forehead while Ronnie made disgusted noises and hugged him so tight he worried about crushing the skinny little body.

"I knew you'd take good care of them for me, titch," Charlie said shakily as he set Ronnie back down and followed the others as they got as far away from the defeated poachers as they could with Stebson's unconscious body.

* * *

McVitie had sent word to the authorities to go and round up the poachers while Ronnie had led a groggy Stebson and the extra vigilant Olaf to the fox hole where he'd left the eggs and hatchlings.

Ronnie had done a fantastic job of taking care of the young. The eggs were still warm and the hatchlings were contained and content enough, though very hungry, and Stebson had told Ronnie that he had saved a whole dragon community. Ronnie had blushed to the tips of his hair and looked very pleased with himself.

Charlie would still exhale with a slight shudder when he thought of what could have happened. For all his insecurities Ronnie was the little kid who'd climbed a tree with a broken arm and scrapped his way out of an underground prison. Ronnie was bold enough to outsmart all of them and save the day and yet he was still looking at Charlie anxiously, waiting to be told he'd done well and that his brother was pleased.

Charlie bent down to look Ronnie in the eye and put a hand on his shoulder as he spoke.

"You were amazing, little ma- Ron. You were great."

Ron's head lifted and his smile was wide.

"I was still scared all the time."

"That just makes you braver," Charlie beamed, "and you know what else?"

Ron's eyebrows lifted and he tilted his head to one side.

"What?"

"I think you're getting taller." Charlie gave an impressed nod, "Mum was right, y'know? You _are_ going to be bigger than Fred and George in no time."

Ron looked delighted with this.

Charlie crouched down even further so he was now looking up into Ron's eyes. His face tried to remain happy but he knew Ron could tell he was feeling unhappy about something and the dirty little face frowned down at him.

"You're gonna love school, mate, you're gonna have so many adventures and I know Fred and George will look after you." Ron opened his mouth to scoff at that but Charlie reaffirmed his statement, "I _know_ they will Ron."

"How come?" Ron asked, sceptically.

"Because when you go back home you're going to know just how tough you are and you know just how much of a mistake it is for people to underestimate you. They'll try to wind you up and you know you can outsmart them now. As soon as they realise you're not their target anymore they'll take you under their wing, I bet ya."

Ron folded his arms and lifted his chin.

"Who says I want to be under their smelly wings anyway?"

"See?" Charlie chuckled. "They're gonna be jumping through hoops to make you laugh rather than making you do things so they can laugh at you."

"Y'think so?" Ron looked hopeful.

Charlie ruffled Ron's hair and gave him a little shove.

"I know so."

Stebson handed Ron his jar of dragon spawn.

"They're in good hands with you lad," the big man said as he shifted from foot to foot and gave Ron an awkward pat on the back. "Ya don't need them to protect you; they'll need you to protect them. You're a natural at that...standin' up for those that need it."

Ron gave Stebson a one armed hug and the huge apron clad man didn't seem to know what to do in response to it.

"Thanks Stebson." Ron let him go, or rather the thigh he had been hugging, and grinned up at him.

"Well...take care then."

Stebson almost ran away. Charlie figured that he kept a low profile at the reserve and the most vocal he'd been in a good long while had been during the time he was worrying about Ron. Charlie grabbed Ron and pinned his arms to his sides with the massive cuddle he felt he needed to give his little brother for both their benefits.

"Sorry I ruined your first day at work, Charlie," Ron said, muffled into Charlie's chest.

"You didn't, you fitted in like you belonged here. It helps being Young Ron's brother with this lot I can tell you. They won't be nasty to me or they know they'll have you to answer to."

Ron chortled and wriggled his arms free to hug Charlie back.

"I wish you could come home on Sundays for dinner," Ron sighed.

"Yeah, me too." Charlie patted Ron on the back and they broke apart somewhat reluctantly. "You know what, though? Anytime, no matter what, you can ask me for help okay?"

Ron smiled sadly and nodded.

"I know."

"I mean it," Charlie said, narrowing his eyes and dipping his head to stare right into Ron, "it doesn't matter how much trouble you're in or how much trouble you think you might get me into, always come to me if you need my help all right?"

"I promise," Ron smiled as he rolled his eyes, "if I get cornered by a dragon in an unexpected place I'll send Errol for you...or feed Errol to the dragon and send the dragon instead!"

Charlie pulled Ron into a loose headlock and got to his feet. They set off to the hastily arranged Portkey to the International Portkey terminal. Their dad had travelled half-way to escort him the rest of the way himself.

His little runt of a brother was going to be alright.

**End**

* * *

_A/N So much thanks to Cat for her super fast beta work on this and all my Quills for a Cause stories. She's studying and doing this and all because she wanted to contribute something to the charity._

_May all your dicks be spotted and may all your tarts taste like treacle! _


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